Panthers’ Bobrovsky posts a 32-save shutout to put Hurricanes on brink of elimination

Chanting from fans in Florida drowned out the public address announcer at the end of Monday night’s game, making his call for the game’s first star impossible to hear.

On the other hand, they already knew who it was going to be.

“Cop!”

“Cop!”

“Cop!”

“No matter what the score is, we’re just trying to make it as easy as possible for him,” said Panthers forward Sam Reinhart, who scored the only goal of the game on a power play midway through the second period.

It has rewarded your work, and then some. Bobrovsky is now 10-1 in his last 11 appearances and has been near perfect in the last eight games. Returning to Game 1 of Round 2 against Toronto, Bobrovsky has not allowed more than two goals in any game, with 296 saves on 309 shots, a .958 save percentage.

And if that doesn’t sound absurd enough, try this one: Of the last 110 shots he’s faced, Bobrovsky stopped 109, starting in the third period of the four-overtime win in Game 1.

“We’re happy with the ‘W’, we’re happy with the win, but the next game is going to be a great game,” Bobrovsky said.

It might be Florida’s biggest since 1996. That was the last year the Panthers played for the Stanley Cup, but they can clinch a trip to the title round with a Game 4 win on Wednesday.

‘We can’t do much more’

This marks the 205th time a team has taken a 3-0 series lead in NHL playoff history. Of the first 204, 200 won the series. The Panthers are 2-0 when they take the first three games of a series; the Hurricanes are 0-5 when they drop the top three.

“We can’t do much more,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We like how we’re playing, clearly. It’s just that we have to find a way to put one up.”

Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett provided the assists on Reinhart’s goal for Florida.

However, it was not a perfect night for Florida. Captain Aleksander Barkov left with about seven minutes left in the first half with a lower-body injury and did not return, despite being labeled questionable by the team. Panthers coach Paul Maurice did not have an update on Barkov’s condition after the game.

That’s what a night of facing Bobrovsky makes right now.

“He’s been amazing, all through the playoffs,” Bennett said.

Panthers join Florida sports success

The 3-0 lead matches that of the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in their Eastern Conference final against the Boston Celtics, with the other storybook team from South Florida right now securing a trip. to the NBA Finals and a matchup with the Denver Nuggets. On tuesday night.

Monday’s game was the first East Finals game at the Panthers’ current stadium: The only time the franchise had made it this far in the playoffs was in 1996, when it played in Miami in a building that was long since torn down.

The crowd roared when they saw him displaying the trophy he won on Sunday. Of course, there’s another silver trophy that Panthers fans would rather see someone with their jersey up before long.

A pair of overtime wins at Carolina, with Tkachuk winning both nights, and Monday’s win now has Florida on the brink of June hockey. And Carolina now needs something close to a miracle.

“It’s difficult,” Brind’Amour said, “because we played so well.”